Task Pane (Microsoft Office XP)

I am not able to get my "Task Pane" tool bar option to work. It shows as checked on the tool bar menu, but does not show on the screen. I did have it. It disappeared. I don't know why. I can't figure out how to get it back. Also, I cannot get the "Reveal Formatting" option to come up. I click on it under the "Styles and Formatting" in the "Format" menu, but nothing happens. Can you help me?